The Dare
by Catalyst16CoCrea
Summary: One Dare One Night in a haunted house One chance to escape
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Truth or dare?"

"Dare." I reply automatically.

I wasn't stupid. I knew they wanted me say truth so they could ask me about my date with Sean last night. I'd been skimpy on the details and they were eager for information I wasn't willing to share.

"You suck!" Tara groaned.

I just rolled my eyes. "You'll get over it. Come on, what's my dare?"

They put their heads together whispering for some time before they stood up, eyes glinting. This wasn't good. When they all had that look at the same time, someone wasn't going to be happy.

"Are you sure you don't want to change to truth?" Samantha grinned evilly. "Just remember you have to do it no matter what."

"I'm sure it will be fine, just tell me what my dare is!"

Tara grinned and sealed my fate in a spooky voice. "You have to stay in the old Paxton house for the whole night."

The Paxton house?

"You can't be serious!" I snapped incredulously.

The Paxton house was an old local legend. Many years ago it was said the owner of the house went mad, killing his wife and then killing himself. This was just a myth though.

It was hard to prove something when the bodies had never been found.

Over the years the house had been locked up, gates put up to stop people going in. This didn't stop people from trying to get inside though. Instead the gate challenged teenagers and drunken idiots; come inside! People would go there for parties, for dares, or just sheer curiosity.

This wasn't the main reason why the gates were put up. It was because over the years people who had gone into the house disappeared, never coming back out.

Never to be seen again.

"Oh come on, you aren't scared are you?" Samantha teased.

"Easy for you to say," I growled. "You're not the one whose head is on the chopping block right now! Can't you dare me something else?"

"Nope," Tara spoke up eagerly. "You agreed that no matter what it was, you had to go through with it. Just because tonight is the anniversary of Paxton and his wife's murder doesn't mean anything."

The last part she said casually as if speaking about the weather. She was right though.

"It's their anniversary?" I screeched.

Tara shrugged, glancing at me teasingly. "Of course if you don't want to do it then that's fine. You can just tell us all about Sean and his abs –"

Ego and anger flashed, making my decision for me.

"Fine!"

"You're switching to truth?" Tara jumped excitedly.

"Of course not! I'm not telling you a single word now about how perfect his abs are! Let's get going, the night's not getting any younger."

Listening to the giggles and gasps of shock, I started walking towards the Paxton house, dread filling my every step.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

* * *

"Look you can still back out."

The Paxton house loomed across a large yard, the iron fence the only barrier between me and hell.

The weatherboards were worn, the paint peeling away. Window sills were broken; the garden was overgrown, looking more like a jungle than a home. In the dark the shadows made the house seem larger, darker.

Scarier than hell.

I knew I should back out. This was a stupid thing to do. My threshold for things scary and the supernatural was pretty small. I got scared when I turned a corner and someone was standing there. Spending the night by myself in a supposed haunted house?

What, was I insane?

At this point in time though, my ego refused to let me back down. This had been their stupid idea. The whole walk over they kept trying to get in front of me, trying to make me turn around. I refused to let myself be wavered. Once I did this then no matter what happened I would never have to take shit from them ever again. All I would have to would do is remind them of this night and what they made me do. One night in a supposed haunted house for a chance of never having to deal with their crap again?

Seemed like a fair trade to me.

In the moonlight, Tara's face was pale, but she still grinned. Probably glad it wasn't her going in the house but me. A true friend wouldn't be this happy to send you into a potentially scary, dangerous house, I decided. At that moment, Tara looked like she would happily skip with me to the front door and hand me over to whatever was in there without so much as a backward glance.

Tara was starting to look like a real bitch.

Just smile, Isabelle.

I grinned in return, saying more bravely than I felt, "See you in the morning girls."

Before I could chicken out, I pushed through the gap in the fence. My clothes ripped on the sharp wire but it didn't bother me. Looking after my clothes wasn't a high priority at the moment. With my backs to them, I looked ahead and my bravery dimmed.

With no fence between me and the house, fear coursed through my veins. The rustling of the grass, the creaking of the house, it all seemed louder. I thought I saw something move in one of the windows but quickly shook it off.

Don't be a baby. It's just one night.

Turning back to the girls, I gave them thumbs up. They were all smiling but their eyes couldn't deceive were just as scared as I was.

Slowly I inched myself closer to the house. I knew I had to move fast, the cops often kept a close eye on the Paxton place for this reason alone. My legs however were against me and refused to move fast than a snail's pace.

As crept towards the house I started to panic. How would I get inside?

If the place was locked up I might have to break a window. I'd never broken into a house before. I was always the good girl in the group. I never had a foot out of line; a hair out of place. After Sean asked me out though, I felt braver, more willing to take a risk. After all I was taking a risk with him.

The thought that I might have to break a window terrified and thrilled me.

God I was such a goody two shoes.

Car lights flashed in the distance breaking my thoughts. A new fear took over. Fear of getting caught.

Without thinking, I broke into a run. I heard the girls scatter behind me as they hid and I rushed to the front door forgetting it was probably locked and turned the doorknob frantically, leaning hard into the splintered wood.

The door creaked open loudly and I tumbled inside, falling into a mess on the floor. I lay there, breathing heavily; the lights from the car kept moving and I sighed in relief, glad the car hadn't seen me.

The door creaked shut, clicking loudly and I stopped breathing, remembering where I was.

Damn it! Why couldn't the car have seen me?


End file.
